Pipedrive alternatives: when you need less than a full CRM

If you're looking at Pipedrive alternatives, the reason is usually the effort rather than the features: you're paying for, setting up and keeping up far more than you use each day. For a founder or sales lead running 20 to 50 deals, the better alternative is usually a tool that does only the daily part, knowing who to follow up with, whether you're on track and what's slipping, rather than a cheaper version of the same CRM.

 

Why do people look for a Pipedrive alternative?

Most people who search for a Pipedrive alternative have outgrown the effort, not the features. Pipedrive covers a great deal, but in a small service business the person paying for it, setting it up and keeping it current is usually the founder, and that's time taken from selling.

 

It tends to show up in the same way. The pipeline starts tidy, then a few deals stop being updated, follow-up dates slip, and within a couple of months the CRM is a record of what used to be true. At that point it doesn't matter how much the tool can do, because nobody trusts what it says, and the founder goes back to a spreadsheet or their inbox to work out who to call.

 

The bill adds to it. Pipedrive charges for every person who uses it, so the cost of keeping a tool you half use rises each time you hire.

 

What does Pipedrive cost in the UK?

Pipedrive charges per person, per month, on four plans. Its UK pricing page, checked on 4 November 2026, lists Lite at £14, Growth at £39, Premium at £59 and Ultimate at £79 per person a month when billed annually, with a 14 day free trial on every plan and no free plan.

 

Each plan adds more. Lite covers lead, calendar and pipeline management, AI report creation and Pipedrive's meeting tool, Nova, which writes meeting briefs and call transcripts. Growth adds full email sync, automated email sequences and forecasts. Premium adds lead routing, custom lead scoring and AI email tools, and Ultimate adds security controls, data enrichment and a sandbox. Paid add-ons sit on top, listed from £13.33 a month for Campaigns up to £41 for Web Visitors, with LeadBooster and Smart Docs from £32.50.

 

The monthly billing prices weren't shown on the page when we checked, so if you'd rather not commit for a year, check the monthly figure before you budget. Prices change, and we'll update this article at each quarterly review.

 

Why does a full CRM go out of date in a small business?

A full CRM goes out of date because every feature it offers is another decision and another thing to maintain, and in a small business there's nobody whose job that is. A sales operations team can keep fields, automations and stages in order. A founder who is also selling and delivering can't, so the parts that need upkeep quietly stop being kept up.

 

James and Axel, who built Pipento, found this with the big CRMs they used before it. They were priced for large sales teams and full of features they didn't need, and they spent more time learning how to use them, and working out what everything did, than selling. The pipeline only stayed useful when they stripped their own process back to the few things they checked every morning.

 

That's the part that matters. A pipeline helps you sell only if it's current, and a tool with less to manage is more likely to be kept current. That only holds if follow-up dates are kept up to date, so no tool will chase deals on its own, but it's far easier to keep three things right than thirty.

 

What does a founder running 20 to 50 deals need each day?

A founder running 20 to 50 deals needs three answers every morning: who to follow up with today, whether the pipeline is on track for the year, and which deals have gone quiet. Almost everything else a CRM offers is useful to someone, but it isn't what decides whether this month's deals close.

 

Take a consultant with 30 live deals as an illustration. If each deal has a value, a stage and a follow-up date, a two minute look each morning shows the five people to call, the two deals that have gone a fortnight without contact and whether the total is ahead of or behind the year's target. Keep cold outreach out of the pipeline and that total stays honest, because every deal in it is one you expect might close.

 

That's what we built Pipento to do. It's the dumb phone of sales tools: it does the few things you need every day, does them well, and leaves out everything that pulls you away from selling. Smart follow-ups works out your average sales cycle from your own deals and suggests when to follow up next, and you can accept the date or pick your own. Pulse shows your year-end forecast and lists the deals that have gone quiet, so you can pick them up before they go cold. We don't add AI for the sake of it, because every feature is decided and built by people who sell for a living.

 

What we left out is as deliberate. There's no marketing automation, because email campaigns and lead scoring are a different job from following up on deals you're already in. There's no admin console or setup project, so there are no workflows to build before it works. There's no built-in dialler, because you already have a phone, and there's no deep customisation, because every extra field is one more thing to keep filled in. If your business needs those, a full CRM will suit you better, and it's better to know that before you move.

 

What should you check before moving away from Pipedrive?

Before you move, list what you used in your CRM last week, price the alternative against the team you'll have in a year, and check how your data gets in and out. Those three checks show whether a simpler tool will cover your week, and whether you'll be able to leave if it doesn't.

 

Start with last week. If most of your time went on the pipeline view, follow-up dates and a forecast, you don't need a tool built around automations and custom objects. Then look at the bill as you grow. Pipedrive charges for each person, while Pipento's Team plan is one flat price for everyone who sells, so it's worth working out both at the headcount you expect next year. Add up any add-ons too, because the plan price is rarely the whole bill.

 

Ask how long setup takes and who does it. Ask how you import an existing pipeline and how you export it, since a tool that's easy to join and hard to leave is a risk. Pipento imports deals and contacts from a CSV file and exports everything to CSV whenever you like. If you're weighing up pricing models in more detail, our guide to choosing a flat fee sales pipeline tool covers what flat pricing should mean, and our sales tracking guide shows the two minute morning check that keeps deals from slipping.

 

Test your current CRM

Answer these about the tool you use today.

 

1. Could you name every deal that needs a follow-up this week without opening a report?

2. Has anyone changed a field, automation or pipeline setting in the last month just to keep the tool working?

3. Is every deal in your pipeline one you expect might close, or does it include cold outreach?

4. Do you know which features on your plan you pay for but have never switched on?

5. Could someone new use it on their first day without training?

 

If two or more answers are uncomfortable, you're probably paying for, and maintaining, more CRM than your week needs.

 

Common questions

How much does Pipedrive cost per person?

On 4 November 2026, Pipedrive's UK pricing page listed its four plans at £14, £39, £59 and £79 per person a month on annual billing. Every plan is priced per person, so the bill rises with each person you add, and paid add-ons cost extra.

 

What's a simple alternative to Pipedrive for a small team?

Pipento is a sales pipeline tool for founders and sales leads who sell a service, and it covers following up, forecasting and spotting deals that have gone quiet. Solo is £35 a month for one person and Team is £69 a month, one flat price for everyone who sells. Both come with a 7 day free trial, and Accounts, Tasks and team access are on Team only.

 

Is Pipedrive cheaper than a flat priced tool?

It depends on the size of your team. On the prices checked in November 2026, Pipedrive Lite costs less than Pipento's Team plan for one to four people, and Team costs less from five people onwards, with the gap growing with each hire.

 

How long does it take to move from Pipedrive?

Deals and contacts usually export to a CSV file and import into another tool in an afternoon. Custom fields, automations and pipeline stages normally need rebuilding by hand, so allow extra time if you've set many of them up.

 

What does Pipento leave out compared with Pipedrive?

Pipento leaves out marketing automation, an admin console or setup project, a built-in dialler and deep customisation. It focuses on deals, follow-ups, forecasting and reports, which are the parts a founder checks every day.

 

The right alternative is the one you'll keep up to date

The useful question is which tool you'll still be updating in three months' time, rather than which CRM does the most. Before you compare plans, write down what you did in your CRM last week, and choose the tool that covers that and very little else.

 

If your pipeline lives in a CRM you half use and your follow-ups live in your head, Pipento does the few things that fix that and leaves the rest out. Solo is for one person and Team covers everyone who sells for one flat monthly price, both with a 7 day free trial, and you can compare the plans on our pricing page.